Menomonee Falls buying land for office developments; Kohl's?

Menomonee Falls is set to buy two vacant parcels at Woodland Prime office park, where Kohl's Corp. has considered developing its new corporate headquarters.

The Village Board, at Monday night's meeting, will consider approving a purchase agreement for the parcels, which are 19 acres and 14.1 acres. The land would be sold by HRH Acquisitions LLC, an investment group led by Milwaukee developer Doug Weas.

If approved by the board, the village would pay around $24,526 per acre, or just over $800,000, said Mark Fitzgerald, village manager.

The village is buying the parcels "at a steep discount so we can work with developers regarding the future development of this land," Fitzgerald told me.

He declined to say whether the impending purchase has anything to do with a possible future new corporate campus for Kohl's.

"We have no other information at this time," Fitzgerald said.

A Kohl's spokeswoman didn't immediately respond to a request for comment. Weas couldn't be reached for comment.

One source, who asked not to be named, said the impending land purchases are linked to an eventual Kohl’s development at Woodland Prime, but declined to provide additional information.

The Village Board last August approved a $41 million tax incremental financing district that would pave the way for Kohl's to move its headquarters to Woodland Prime.

That plan calls for developing Kohl's main building, with about 900,000 square feet, on around 45 acres the village owns in the northwestern portion of Woodland Prime. The business park is north of Good Hope Road, between Appleton Ave. and Highway 45.

The financing plan calls for the village to buy additional vacant parcels, totaling 36 acres, within Woodland Prime. Some of that land could accommodate other buildings for Kohl's.

The two parcels that would be bought from Weas' group make up just over 33 acres.

Under the financing plan, Menomonee Falls would spend up to $23 million on new roads, water mains, a bridge and other public improvements at Woodland Prime.

An additional $18 million would be spent to buy land, and provide grants and "incentives" to help attract Kohl's and other companies.

Those other companies include Eaton Corp., which is building its new $15 million division headquarters at Woodland Prime with $3 million in village financing help.

The $41 million in public spending would be paid back to the village over an estimated 19 years.

The money would be repaid through property taxes from the $122 million Kohl's headquarters and other developments, creating new buildings with an estimated value eventually totaling $215 million, according to the village's estimates.

Once the money was repaid, the property taxes would go to the village, its school district and other local government

A specific proposal to provide money for a Kohl's corporate campus, which hasn't yet surfaced publicly, would need separate Village Board approval.

In February, Kohl's announced it would not move its headquarters to downtown Milwaukee's Park East area from Silver Spring Corporate Center, a Menomonee Falls business park.

However, the company didn't say whether it would proceed with the Woodland Prime plan.

Commercial Real Estate News

The council on Tuesday voted 10-5 to support the project, falling two votes short of the supermajority needed for approval. The zoning change needed 12 votes because a protest petition was signed by enough adjacent property owners, said Ald. Ashanti Hamilton, council president.

The opponents were Ald. Robert Bauman, whose district includes the site, along with aldermen Cavalier Johnson, Mark Borkowski, Jose Perez and Tony Zielinski.